Last fall I purchased a new 2008 Futura 122. Unfortunately I live where we have to deal with heavy weed on a regular basis. I currently have a 14.5" (36.8cm)True Ames blade weed I used regularly on my old Carve140. It seems to work ok on the 122 with a 7.5, but I would like to get a smaller fin to maximize performance down to 6.0 and occasional 5.0 use. The two options I am looking at are the Maui Fin weed burner (34cm) or True Ames blade weed 12.5 (31.8cm). Which one of these would you recommend? Will spin-out be a problem with a fin this size? Would one be any faster than the other? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hi PEIsailer,
I know the True Ames Blade Weed, and it's a Tuttle box design if it fit your older Carve 140.
I looked at the Maui Fin Co. website to see the Weed Burner, but according to the website that design only comes with a PowerBox fin root.
The 12.5 in. Blade Weed should work pretty well on your Futura 122 I would think, but the 14.5" will work as well.
Spinout should not be a problem with with either fin, but the 14.5" suits the width of your Futura 122 a bit better.
Another fin to look at would be the Lessacher Duo Weed in a 32 cm. (12.59").
The Lessacher Duo is ver fast, and has really good durability.http://www.cameraid.com/Lessacher/contact.html
Another possibilty would be a Tangent Dynamics Reaper Weed Fin in a 32 cm size.
All will work well and all of them come in Tuttle base.
Hope this helps,

So the 12.5 Blade Weed would not be too small for this board? I found the 14.5 worked ok, but can't help wondering if a smaller fin would be any better and faster. I just don't want to waste 150 bucks if I don't have to. The new board blew the budjet for a while

Hi Doug,
With weed fins, you can go a bit smaller as they have signifcantly more are for a given span (depth).
But, if you've sailed your 14.5" Blade Weed on the Futura 122 with a 6.0 and not experienced any performance or control issues, the 14.5 may be fine.
Tailwalking, and control issues usually are not such a factor with weed fins.
Give it a try, and if it feels wrong. or the board acts squirrelly, then look for the smaller fin.
You may not have to go all the way down to 12.5 (32 cm)
Perhaps True Ames, or some other weed fin producer makes a 13.0- 13.5" weed fin.
Tangent makes a 35 cm I pretty sure, and I've had great luck with the Tangent Reapers.
They don't shed all weeds all the time, but the shed most of them, so unless you have tons of floating surface weed (eel grass) the Tangent Reapers really work well. Good speed, pretty good upwind.
Hope this helps,

I have to say that Lessacher's Duo carbon weed fins are mighty powerful for their size, and I think it's attributable to their asymmetrical foiling and stiffness. I have a 28S and a 34, and I'm very impressed with both of them. I use the 28S up to a 7.1 sail, and there is absolutely no crabbing or spinout problems. However, I'm using it on a custom freeride board that's about 100 liters. I use the 34 on a bigger course slalom board (a 1998 custom of about 120 liters) for my 8.3 sail, and I have to be frank that it gives comparable lift and drive as a 20" TA SB Weed Blade that I used to own for use on the same board.

Another thing that's notably different with the Duo Weeds is that they aren't set forward of the finbox like so many of the weed fins on the market.

Hi Clyde,
I see your other post about the 10" Weed Wave on your S-Type 115. That seems awfully small, and the S-Type 115 with a 4.5 m2 rig (in true 4.5 m2 conditions) seems like way too mmuch board for the conditions.
OK, Maui Weedburnter 29 cm=11.41 inches;
Weedburner 34 = 13.38".
The 29 cm seems about right for the S-Type 115, but is too small for your Futura 122.
The 34cm seems more suitable for your Futura 122.
I agree with Maximus from the other post.... you have too many boards that are nearly the same size and cover about the same conditions.
Look for a Futura 101, Kode 94 or something in the 90-100 liter range for your 5.5 and 4.5 m2 rigs.
You will probably be a whole lot faster and happier. Plus you can get into bump and jump
sailing.
Hope this helps,

I just put an ad in NJ Craig's list for a trade. No replies yet. I should probably keep the hypersonic 105, sell the futura 122 due to the limited range of the board and trade the S-type 115 in on a Futura 101. Since I live in Central PA, my most used board would be the hyper. I live near Scott Kreiser from ABK but don't get around as much as he does.
After reading all of the advertisements, I thought the Futura 122 would do magic. The latest Windsurfing Mag tests brought me back to reality.

The most use the 32 cm Duo Weed. Some use 9.5m˛ 100% carbon. Rake is 45°.
Made in Germany. I worked for the Speedsurfer Rake 30° fins in carbon and ceramic.
Speed is good , weed with speed no problem. Thomas Döblin made with a Rake 30°
some days ago in Germany : topspeed 49,99 knots. With a 22cm fin. He used the
fin the first time. So we wait for the 100 km/h. That what I saw,is that only Martin van Meurs
was faster in topspeed.I hope that my eyes looked good. If somebody want pictures
from Rake 30°, I can send pictures. www.designlessacher.com
Wolfgang